Save the Date!

The Downtown Debut

The 13th Annual Encore Luncheon

Supporting Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
Chaired by Kimberly Hickson and David Spaw

February 11, 2019
11:00-1:00pm

At the new Kinder HSPVA campus
790 Austin Street

Each year, HSPVA Friends’ Encore Luncheon raises vital funds for art area supplies, state-of-the-art technology, specialized teachers, and other essential building blocks required by Kinder HSPVA’s rigorous arts curriculum. The proceeds from the luncheon go directly to these needs and the talented, dedicated young artists who work every day to excel in their crafts.

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Fri, 17 Aug 2018 00:22:43 +0000https://hspvafriends.org/?p=1920The post Spaghetti Supper is October 18 appeared first on HSPVA Friends.
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The 47th Annual Spaghetti Supper is Thursday, October 18!

Don't miss the last Spaghetti Supper in the Montrose Campus!

The Annual Spaghetti Supper, benefiting the Kinder HSPVA Music Departments, is a tradition that dates back to the inaugural year of our school in 1971. Every single musician who has ever walked the halls of this venerable institution has performed at Spaghetti Supper.

The supper serves as the primary Music Department fundraiser each year and features continuous entertainment by all of our student musicians in four separate venues across campus. The event is organized and operated each year by an army of hardworking parents. Help us celebrate Kinder HSPVA by being a part of the magic!

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Tue, 12 Jun 2018 23:21:45 +0000https://hspvafriends.org/?p=1748The post A New HSPVA Logo for a New Era appeared first on HSPVA Friends.
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Drumroll, please!

In preparation for the upcoming school year, we are proud to introduce HSPVA’s new logo!

Why the new look?

With the long-awaited new campus set to open in January 2019, the move presented the perfect opportunity for a refresh! HSPVA’s brand has been going strong for almost half a century. We all know that logo use has evolved tremendously since 1971. From websites, social media, and videos to presentations, playbills, and signage, the school needs a look that works seamlessly across all platforms while representing HSPVA’s past, present, and future.

First Step: Assemble the Dream Team

The scene is early 2016. With funding in place through HSPVA Friends, HSPVA’s Principal, Dr. Allen, was able to contract a team of designers from the Gensler Brand Design office. Gensler was the obvious choice. Their architects were already working hard to design the new campus! They had spent hundreds of hours with the students and teachers in Montrose. We knew Gensler understood the HSPVA culture.

Next, a committee of faculty and alumni assembled! Together, they represented every decade of HSPVA’s history, from the 1970s to the present.

The Mission

The committee’s goal was to establish a single, coordinated brand identity. It was a tall order: a new logo had to represent who HSPVA is today and going forward. This was an opportunity to unify all aspects of the school and to refine perceptions, both internally and externally. By establishing an aesthetic standard that could be upheld and built upon in the future, HSPVA would continue to grow as a leader in arts education.

Together, the team worked to define what HSPVA meant to each of them. In the end, they clarified the school’s mission statement:

By cultivating both artistic and academic excellence in a diverse environment, HSPVA builds the confidence and enthusiasm required for an accomplished creative future.

Next Step: Visioning Sessions

Over multiple meetings in the HSPVA Art Gallery, the Gensler design team asked the committee big questions: Why are you making this change? What are key challenges you face? How would you measure success?

Immediately, common answers surfaced. Some were practical, like the desire for legibility and scalability. But many were more complex. For example, the logo would have to communicate that HSPVA fosters a shared creativity between distinct art areas and unique students. As one committee member put it, “Let’s take what’s delicious, and amp it up!”

The committee also spent time discussing how HSPVA’s past interacts with its present – and how both would carry into the future. Who are we? What do we do? And, how do we differentiate ourselves? Several members used the metaphor of a tree: deep roots from the Original Campus, a strong core established over many years at the Montrose Campus, and the open reaching canopy of the Downtown Campus.

By the end, the committee had created a collage of words to describe HSPVA: classic, bold, artistic, pre-professional, creative, familial, innovative, playful, competitive, quirky, original, diverse, and needed! Our purpose is to deliver the highest level of arts education. We expose possibility, stimulate exploration, and cultivate artistry.

The designers took everything they learned and presented several logo options. The vote was unanimous: we had our logo! As the branding sessions wrapped up, HSPVA received an enormous gift of $7.5 million from a longtime donor, the Kinder Foundation. This gift ensured that the performance venues, art area classrooms, and common areas at the new campus could be completed! In recognition of the school’s philanthropic partner and according to HISD’s recognition policy, the name of the school evolved to the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. The logo the committee had chosen was ready for the big move and the 2018-2019 school year!

An Identifier for Today and Tomorrow

It represents the creative individuals who are constantly pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box.

The vertical movement of “P” for “Performing” and “V” for “Visual” provide distinction from the “H” & “S” for “High School”.

The mark is unique and recognizable without being fussy or convoluted.

Overall, the logo is an expression of who we are. It’s the constant that represents the school in every communication, easily reproduced in a variety of modern applications.

We sure hope you like the new look as much as we do!

Special thanks to the committee members:

Dr. R. Scott Allen, Principal

Travis Springfield, Lead Counselor

Eastman Landry, Academic Faculty Rep

Pat Bonner, Art Area Faculty Rep

Cynthia Ogden, Art Area Faculty Rep

Jacob Miller, Current Student Rep

Ian Estes, Alumni from the 2010s Rep

Alene Coggin, HSPVA Friends and Alumni from the 2000s Rep

Anita Barksdale, Alumni from the 1990s Rep

Georgia Lister, Current Parent Rep and Alumni from the 1980s Rep

Jinx Hayden, Alumni from the 1970s Rep

Cover photo by Lynn Lane

]]>Montrose Memorieshttps://hspvafriends.org/montrosememories/
Thu, 24 May 2018 04:46:37 +0000https://hspvafriends.org/?p=1730Your Gift from the Class of 2018 Created by HSPVA’s 2018 Student Council Art Committee, this walk down memory lane features students, alumni, and faculty of The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, as they describe what has made 4001 Stanford Street a home-away-from-home for thousands of young artists for 35 years. In…

Created by HSPVA’s 2018 Student Council Art Committee, this walk down memory lane features students, alumni, and faculty of The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, as they describe what has made 4001 Stanford Street a home-away-from-home for thousands of young artists for 35 years. In January 2019, the school will move to its long-awaited new campus in downtown Houston.

This film was filmed, directed, and produced in the spring of 2018. Very special thanks to Student Council Artistic Director Elena Margolin (Theatre ’18) and Student Council President Cathleen Freedman (Creative Writing ’18), as well as Alexa Halim, Jack Salazar, Julissa Ramirez, and Nicholas Wesley.

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Tue, 15 May 2018 17:48:37 +0000https://hspvafriends.org/?p=1682One-of-a-kind art for a one-of-a-kind campus To help us celebrate the generous contributions to the Build the Extraordinary Campaign from HSPVA alumni, HSPVA families, and members of the Houston community, acclaimed sculptors Patrick Renner (Visual ’00) and Kelly O’Brien, founders of Flying Carpet Creative, are designing and building two extraordinary art installations for the Kinder…

To help us celebrate the generous contributions to the Build the Extraordinary Campaign from HSPVA alumni, HSPVA families, and members of the Houston community, acclaimed sculptors Patrick Renner (Visual ’00) and Kelly O’Brien, founders of Flying Carpet Creative, are designing and building two extraordinary art installations for the Kinder HSPVA campus: xylem and lilt.

xylem

Recognizing donations of $10,000+

This organic wall, reminiscent of a horizontal mountain range, will greet guests at the entrance to the school and welcome them into the Denney Theatre. The surface will be comprised of narrow strips of naturally-colored exotic woods, hand-crafted to form a fine veneer. An undulating metal ridge snaking across the curve of the wall embodies the biorhythm of the school’s creative energy.

The xylem is the water-carrying tissue in wood, bringing nutrients upward from the roots to keep the tree healthy and growing – an apt metaphor for our generous donors and for HSPVA as a whole, as the school works to help young artists rise to their potential. The composition of this large sculpture will make rigid material appear to flow across the curved wall of the Commons, turning solid wood into something of a liquid state.

Donors’ names will appear in brushed metal letters crafted to echo the curves of the wall behind them. The metal will contrast strikingly with the fine-furniture finish of the wooden landscape. Donation levels are indicated by font size.

lilt

Recognizing donations of $100-$9,999

Multi-colored wood strips will be woven together to form a cascade of leaf-like shapes suspended over the Commons staircase, inviting patrons up to the second-floor performance venues and art galleries. Near the top of the stairs, the leaves will flow together into a dense ribbon that hits the ceiling before flowing down the length of the second-floor wall. Every wood strip will be painted by HSPVA alumni, current students, families, and friends of HSPVA, making this one-of-a-kind installation a true product of the HSPVA community.

The title “lilt” relates to both the rising and falling of the sculpture itself and the sing-song voices of students spending time in the Commons. This sculpture is visually divided into two lilting phases: above the stairs, the leaf forms can be read as flowing up or cascading down while the woven panel along the second-floor wall has a distinct up-and-down wiggle.

Donors’ names will appear on individual clear plaques, allowing the artwork’s vibrant colors to shine through the array of names. Donation levels are indicated by font size. While all donors can use up to 30 characters, donors at and above the $1,000 level have the additional option of adding an “in memory of” or “in honor of” line of text.

About the Artists

Patrick Renner and Kelly O’Brien are acclaimed sculptors with public art installations in major cities across the country, including Houston. In 2015, they partnered to form Flying Carpet Creative. Patrick graduated from the HSPVA Visual Arts Department in 2000. He is thrilled to give back to a school that means so much to him, having launched his successful career in the arts.

“My experience at HSPVA was incredibly formative, so it’s a thrilling opportunity to contribute something back to this wonderful program, which will continue shaping the creativity of our youth and growing the culture of our great city.”

The 2018 All-School Black History Production honors the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. At The Apollo is an original musical that will take you on a journey featuring performers who graced the stage from the 1930s to today and celebrate the importance of preserving culture and heritage.

Don't miss any HSPVA performances or openings this spring!

The spring semester at HSPVA is full of exciting performances and gallery openings you do not want to miss! The HSPVA Box Office is your one-stop spot to find out what’s happening and to make sure you have your ticket. The full season calendar includes events from all six departments—Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Vocal Music.

Join the Movement!

The 2017-2018 HSPVA Friends Annual Giving Campaign

Supporting HSPVA is a team effort.

Did you know that the vast majority of donors to HSPVA Friends give less than $50? HSPVA’s 46-year history of success has created a movement in Houston and around the world. Talent. Drive. Integrity. Creativity. Excellence. When HSPVA students graduate, they carry these qualities with them and reshape their communities.

Join the movement! Give young artists from all across Houston the opportunity to pursue their passions and to forge new paths for civic and artistic innovation. They’re counting on HSPVA Friends. We’re counting on you.

We asked three teachers what they want people to know about HSPVA Friends.
This is what they said.

David Waddell (’99)Visual Arts Chair

The HSPVA Friends staff always asks me, “How can we make your life easier? How can we help your department succeed?”

As makers and creators, all of us rely on the funds they generate for art supplies and materials. We have not raised our department fees in over 20 years because of Friends!

Virginia BallardEnglish

HSPVA Friends supports our academic programs as well. They provide funds to bring in speakers for lecture series, and they administer summer program scholarships. I’m about as warm and fuzzy as a porcupine, but I love HSPVA Friends.

HSPVA is often described as having ‘magic’ in its halls. This magic would not exist without HSPVA Friends. Friends provides Broadway choreographer masterclasses, sheet music to fill our music library, new pianos, and travel to national conferences. Because of their dedication to our students, HSPVA continues to be one of the nation’s most renowned schools.